It’s that time again ladies and gentlemen, OBS gives you the weekly ‘Author Profile’. OBS staff member Thefarawaytwilighter(Caro) brings us this weeks author.

Author name: Stephenie Meyer

-twilight (2005)
-new moon (2006)
-eclipse (2007)
-breaking dawn (2008)

*Others books
-Prom Nights from Hell (section, 2007)
-The Host
-The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide (TBA)

Stephenie Meyer was born December 24, 1973 in Hartford, Connecticut to Stephen and Candy Morgan. She’s an American author, known for her vampire romance series Twilight. She grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, with five siblings: Seth, Emily, Jacob, Paul, and Heidi. She attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. She then attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she received a B.A. in English in 1997. She met her husband Christian, nicknamed “Pancho”, when she was growing up in Arizona, and married him in 1994 when they both were 21. Together they have three sons: Gabe, Seth, and Eli.

She is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has stated that she is “straitlaced” about her beliefs, and does not drink alcohol or smoke. She had never written even a short story before Twilight, and had considered going to law school because she felt she had no chance of becoming a writer; she later noted that the birth of her oldest son Gabe changed her mind, saying, “Once I had Gabe, I just wanted to be his mom.” Before becoming an author, her only professional work was as a receptionist in a property company.

The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition, won multiple literary awards and sold over 70 million copies worldwide, with translations into 37 different languages around the globe. A film adaptation of Twilight was released in the United States on November 21, 2008. She is also the author of the adult science-fiction novel The Host.

Stephenie Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003. The dream was about a human girl, and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood. Based on this dream, she wrote the transcript of what is now Chapter 13 of the book. In a matter of three months she had transformed her dream into a completed novel, though she claims that she never intended to publish Twilightand was writing for her own enjoyment. Her sister’s response towards the book was enthusiastic and she persuaded Stephenie to send the manuscript to literary agencies. Of the 15 letters she wrote, five went unanswered, nine brought rejections, and the last was a positive response from Jodi Reamer of Writers House. Eight publishers competed for the rights to publish Twilight in the 2003 auction. By November, she had signed a three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company.

Twilight was one of 2005’s most talked about novels and within weeks of its release the book debuted at #5 on The New York Times bestseller list. Among its many accolades, Twilight was named an “ALA Top Ten Books for Young Adults,” an Amazon.com “Best Book of the Decade…So Far”, and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year.
The highly-anticipated sequel, New Moon, was released in September 2006, and spent more than 25 weeks at the #1 position on The New York Times bestseller list.

In 2007, Eclipse literally landed around the world and fans made the Twilight Saga a worldwide phenomenon! With midnight parties and vampire-themed proms the enthusiasm for the series continued to grow.

On May 6, 2008, Little, Brown and Company released The Host, Meyer’s highly-anticipated novel for adults which debuted at #1 on The New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. The Host still remains a staple on the bestseller lists more than a year after its debut.

On August 2, 2008, the final book in the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawnwas released at 12:01 midnight. Stephenie made another appearance on “Good Morning America” and was featured in many national media outlets, including Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek, People Magazine and Variety. Stephenie headlined the Breaking Dawn Concert Series with Justin Furstenfeld (lead singer of Blue October) to celebrate the release in four major markets across the US. Breaking Dawn sold 1.3 million copies in its first 24 hours.

Upcoming events for this author:
November: Female Force will feature a biographical comic.
New Moon Movie ReleaseAs crazy as it sounds, Stephenie Meyer’s books have become an addition, hope and a different way of viewing things for me.